The Crooked Heart of Mercy: A Novel

By Billie Livingston

From acclaimed Canadian novelist Billie Livingston comes this powerful U.S. debut that unfolds over a riveting dual narrative—an unforgettable story of ordinary lives rocked by hardship and scandal that follows in the tradition of Jennifer Haigh, A. Manette Ansay, and Jennifer Egan.

Ben wakes up in a hospital with a hole in his head he can't explain. What he can remember he’d rather forget. Like how he’d spend nights as a limo driver for the wealthy and debauched….how he and his wife, Maggie, drifted apart in the wake of an unspeakable tragedy…how his little brother, Cola, got in over his head with loan sharks circling.

Maggie is alone. Again. With bills to pay and Ben in a psych ward, she must return to work. But who would hire her in the state she’s in? And just as Maggie turns to her brother, Francis, the Internet explodes with video of his latest escapade. The headline? Drunk Priest Propositions Cops.

Francis is an unlikely priest with a drinking problem and little interest in celibacy. A third DUI, a looming court date.…When Maggie takes him in, he knows he may be down to his last chance. And his best shot at healing might lie in helping Maggie and Ben reconnect—against all odds.

Simmering with dark humor and piercing insights, The Crooked Heart of Mercy is a startling reminder that redemption can be found in the most unlikely of places.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Mar 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9780062413765

Billie Livingston

Billie Livingston is the award-winning author of three novels, a collection of short stories, and a poetry collection. Her most recent novel, One Good Hustle, a Globe and Mail Best Book selection, was nominated for the 2012 Giller Prize and for the Canadian Library Association's Young Adult book of the year.

Reviews for The Crooked Heart of Mercy

[devlindusty · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An amazing story about love, loss and resilience. Told by the perspective of both parents we delve into both of their childhoods and about the loss of their first son Nicholas. This is a dark but triumphant read. I highly recommend this book.

[lorimarie_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was a very difficult read. The characters were indeed going through something no one should have to go through, but I found them hard to like. Ben seemed to be too self absorbed and Maggie was understandable nearly unable to cope. I'd suggest to anyone who reads this to have tissues at the ready. It was not a book I would re-read, but I would for sure suggest it to others.

[kibosa_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found the most intriguing part of the book to be how the main characters dealt with life's challenges/tragedies. With all the bad that happened to them - whether their own actions or results of other's actions - I felt more concerned & interested for them, rather than disapproving or judgmental. A wonderful, fast read.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

None of us is perfect. We all carry burdens. But Herodotus said "But this I know: if all mankind were to take their troubles to market with the idea of exchanging them, anyone seeing what his neighbor's troubles were like would be glad to go home with his own." For most of us, that is probably true but not for all, I suspect. And I'd guess that the main characters in Billie Livingston's compelling new novel, The Crooked Heart of Mercy, would definitely choose different troubles, ones that didn't weigh on their hearts forever and so heavily.Ben is in a psych ward. He has a head wound that he has no memory of receiving and he's deep in a dissociative state. He's psychologically numb and wants to stay that way. Maggie is trying to come back to life, at least enough to get a job and pay her rent. She's a house cleaner and takes care of senior citizens but in her first interview in a long time, she breaks down and flees the kindly and strange children's author who wants to hire her. Ben and Maggie are married but separated and it is clear that both of them are deeply broken. Narrating the story in alternating chapters, each of them tells of their unhappy and difficult pasts, the wrong choices they made to cope, and the devastating tragedy that has all but annihilated them individually and together. Just as Maggie seems to be starting to find a way to survive her grief, accepting a job with the elderly Lucy, her brother Francis, a priest, is embroiled in a scandal. Francis is gay and alcoholic and he fights against his desire for sex and liquor every day, losing more days than not. But he continues searching for God's grace despite his inability to honor his religious vows. Taken in by Maggie, he thinks he might find atonement in saving his sister and brother-in-law and their marriage.This is a tough read; let me be up front about that. Before he landed in the psych ward, Ben drove a limo full of drunk and high people around every night. Maggie accepted prescription drugs as gifts or payment from her elderly clients. And the two of them used these drugs to escape from those things in life that were hard for them. Maggie lost her parents when she was young, living with her older brother Francis who, while he loved his sister, was too young and immature to be a parent to her. Ben's mother walked out on his father and her children and his father was an abusive addict, leaving Ben to care for his younger brother Cola, something he still tries to do even it does nothing but frustrate and annoy him. Clearly these are two people who have struggled for a long time but they found a measure of happiness and hope with each other for a brief period before terrible catastrophe shattered them. As characters they are imperfect, as are we all. They prove that grieving isn't pretty; it is desperate and painful. The first person narration allows the reader to see just how empty and despairing that Ben is and how devastated and crippled Maggie is and it offers an uncomfortable chance to climb into their skins, make the same terrible decisions they do, feel the stress and frustration their families cause them, and to experience the paralyzing guilt and heavy responsibility that their actions caused. The book is both powerful and draining as it looks at these issues and those of faith, family, the magnitude of loss, and what hope means. There is no easy redemption here, no promise of happiness, but there is putting one foot in front of the other and the acknowledgment that holding a hand as you move forward into the unknown gives you something to trust and rely on even if it can't ever remove the past.

[deanieg_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ben and Maggie lost their only child, a 2 1/2 year old son named Nicholas...their lives are torn apart and this book is the story of them coming back together, told from both their points...all the characters in this story are damaged but still manage to find hope....

[chwest-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book caught my interest at the first chapter and kept it to the very end. The characters are interesting, and the relationship between them are honest and unusual. When Billie Livingston describes who Maggie can feel Frankie nestle into her, the details make you feel it too. The loved this book, and highly recommend it to anyone that needs to escape for a while.